Impress Me Not: The Writer

Chapter 30

Damien: You're an asshole.

Jasper: Why?

Damien: Because

He aggressively typed on his phone, searching for any means of escape and distraction from what was happening at the present. It was horrible enough that he had even mentioned this before. Now he had the whole experience.

Jasper: What did I do wrong now?

That notification popped up like some sort of heavenly reprieve from the thoughts that were racing through his mind, causing his heart to race and his nerves to be more than shot. Of course, something bad had to happen right when they were going good. He was actually enjoying the time he spent in his classes and outside of them. The newspaper club wasn't as busy and his classes were more enjoyable now that most of the big tests were done. Once you had gotten in the groove of your classes, they were a breeze.

And now, this had to happen.

Damien: You JINXED me, you ASS!

There was a reason he didn't talk much about them. He barely even thought of them. Bringing them up was a summoner's spell. Somehow, someway, they could hear you talking about them, and would think that it was the greatest time to pop in for a visit, just to torment you. It was something they especially liked to do to Damien. While his other siblings were grown and independent, Damien had to be cursed with forever being under their scrutiny.

Jasper: Are you talking about when I mentioned your parents on our date last weekend?

Damien: YES!

Jasper: They're here?

Damien: YES!!!

Jasper: Right now?

Damien: No – tomorrow! Of course, they're here right now, Jasper! How many times do I have to say YES for you to understand?!?!?!

He was probably getting a kick out of seeing him freak out over the phone like Damien was. He couldn't help it. His parents were the main reasons why he was so paranoid in the first place. And they absolutely loved to make surprise visits to see how he was. During his first year, they blew up his phone, demanding calls and text of what he was doing and how it was like living there. They really thought that being in America was going to be horrible. That Damien would get it out of his system by going to this university.

That was the only way he was able to convince them to actually pay for it. Of course, they weren't shy on money. What they were shy on was sanity – which was exactly what they sapped from Damien every time he was forced to be around them.

Jasper: Where are you?

Damien: At the café, why?

He didn't answer that one. Damien frowned as he was left on read, drinking his coffee like it was water and he had just ran a marathon. He knew that it was only going to make him even more of a nervous and jittery, but he couldn't help it. Coffee was his comfort drink, especially when it was loaded up with sugar.

And if people were allowed to eat a whole tub of ice cream as comfort food when they were going through a breakup, he was allowed to drink his heart attack in a cup.

If Sam saw him, he would be fuming right now. The man went into full mother hen mode whenever he saw that Damien was drinking nothing but the cold coffee. It was nice of him, but Damien would rather not deal with it, especially not now. He had enough on his plate at the moment.

His parents had called him saying that they had landed right when he had woken up. He had fallen asleep with his laptop open, halfway through a sentence as his body shut down without his permission. He wrote in all kinds of positions and places. He remembered one time he was so bored and frustrated, he decided to try and write upside down just to get the story out finally.